Hanging out with your customers is now easier than ever

There are some nights, in customer support, when email just won’t do. There are times when even the phone won’t do. Sometimes, it’s a customer who just doesn’t seem to get what you’re saying (What do you mean DVD drive? You mean, that’s not a cup holder?). Other times, it’s a solution so complicated that you’re up to your eyeballs in screenshots. Still other times you feel like the only thing that’ll actually work is a drive over to the customer’s office so that you can run him through every step, over coffee. But what’s a poor support rep to do when the customer’s halfway across the world?

Google+ Hangouts to the rescue

With the Freshdesk – Hangouts integration, you can now initiate video calls right from within your favorite helpdesk. And it doesn’t just end with just video calls; Hangout’s finer features, like remote assistance and screen sharing, enable you to solve even the most complex of problems in just a few minutes!

Initiating a Hangout from the agent’s side is easy; all you have to do is install the plugin (directions are here) and tell your customer when to expect your call! To be safe, we recommend that you put it down on your Calendar.

However, if you’d like for your customers to be able to initiate Hangouts with your agents as well, there’s still one tiny step to go. Here’s a solution article that’ll help you set up a Hangout widget in your end user portal.

Have any questions? Drop us a line down below in the comments or shoot us an email (it’s support-at-freshdesk-dot-com). We’re always happy to help.

Does this support a chat feature? So we could have something on our website that says “Need help? Chat with a sales rep now!” and the customer gets instant support via chat

freshdesk

I think you’re confusing the Hangouts Integration with Freshchat, Michael. Freshchat is designed to be a part of your website; your users can initiate conversations with your agents at will (and your agents can initiate chats with your visitors as well!). The Hangouts Integration, on the other hand, puts a “Start Hangout” button alongside tickets. So, if a customer’s viewing a ticket and he wants to start a Hangout, he can press it and get connected to the agent. However, the nature of Hangouts necessitates the need for both the agent and the customer to be logged into their Gmail accounts and be waiting for said call. This solution article explains it more eloquently: https://support.freshdesk.com/support/articles/195412-integration-with-google-hangouts-customer-initiated-video

Michael

Thanks for the quick response..I wasn’t aware FreshChat existed but this looks to be precisely what I’m looking for. Thanks for your help!

Anthony

do you need to be using gmail accounts for hangouts to work. Our University uses office 365 accounts. would the hangout integration work?

freshdesk

So sorry for the delay, Anthony. Yes, you need to have Google accounts for the Hangouts integration to work.